


December 12: the journey between

by dizzy



Series: 2017 (the darkest timeline) daily fic advent [12]
Category: Glee RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-12
Updated: 2017-12-12
Packaged: 2019-02-14 03:16:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,505
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12998673
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dizzy/pseuds/dizzy
Summary: prompt:au where they've never met and darren is reading one of chris's books in a cafe or the subway and is very expressive while doing so and isn't aware that chris happens to see





	December 12: the journey between

Chris is fresh from his seventh meeting in three months with the lawyer whose sole job is to make sure that his newly ex-husband doesn't actually convince a judge that he's deserving of half of everything Chris makes for the next (optimistically) ten years on grounds of supporting the golden retriever that Chris only lost custody of because his ex made a bullshit argument that book tours keep Chris on the road and he can't offer consistent emotional support-

He pushes the door to the coffee shop open with slightly too much force, startling the pink haired teenager waiting to come out. 

"Sorry," he mutters, not meeting her eyes. 

It's hard to give a shit today. About who he pisses off, and who he is unfair to... I mean, when the world is being this unfair to him, what should it even matter? 

* 

He orders a small coffee, black like his soul feels right now, and a then two cans of Diet Coke from their fridge to pour into the thirty ounce cup they charge him a ridiculous sixty cents to fill with ice. 

(He doesn't leave a tip. He is that asshole today, confirmed.)

His mood only darkenss when he realiezs there's only one table free, and it's beside a guy with a kid. 

It's not that he doesn't like it's. It's just that he doesn't really - _do_ kids. No one in his close family has any. None of his friends have any. He and his ex talked about adopting, but - then they got the dog, and the dog really satisfied every need they had. 

Now he doesn't have a kid or a dog, he's just got a tiny coffee and a massive soda and a headache aching behind his eyeballs. 

And he doesn't want to have to listen to some kid screaming.

*

The kid doesn't scream. 

In fact, all she does is laugh. 

Chris can't see her, but he can hear her. The man beside her is trying to be quiet, modulating his voice down low in what Chris appreciates is an attempt to not disturb people as he talks to the girl, but the girl shrieks with laughter sometimes despite his shushing. 

It's not actually until the middle aged women on the sofa across from Chris's table get up and leave that it's quiet enough for Chris to realize that the guy isn't actually talking to the girl, he's reading to her. 

"One more chapter, Uncle Darren!" She pleads. 

"That was the whole prologue, Rosie-Rose," 'Uncle Darren' says. "Gotta save some of the good stuff for for your dad, don't we? You know how much he loves reading you bedtime stories!" 

"But just oooone?" She whines. 

He sighs. "Okay, but your dad takes over after that." 

It's a cute scene, but Chris is still in a shitty mood and he really regrets not bringing headphones with him. 

*

Except - 

It doesn't stand out to him at first, because he's trying very hard to tune them out. 

But words and phrases still slip through, and his skin starts to prickle with familiarity. 

The man has a low, pleasant voice as he reads words Chris can't specifically remember writing but still knows he wrote. 

" _The elf, troll, goblin, and human civilians from all over the fairy-tale world were rounded up and marched into the Northern Kingdom,_ " He reads. 

The little girl gasps. "What happened to them there, Uncle Darren!" 

Darren laughs. "Hold your horses. We'll get there. _They were pushed into Swan Lake, just beside the severely damaged Northern Palace. The lake had been dried out..._ " 

_By the literary army,_ Chris mouths along. 

It's one of his older books, the first series he'd ever written, but it's definitely his. 

*

He sits for the next twenty minutes listening to a man he doesn't know give life to a world he's spend years creating. 

He listens to the fear and excitement of a child experiencing it through his words and a well-spoken, emotionally injected delivery. 

He thinks about where he was when he wrote that chapter, when he wrote that book. Newlywed in Los Angeles with debt still to his name but a multi-book deal, living in the first home he ever bought, dreaming a future where he'd never be alone again. 

It hits him halfway through - not the divorce, that's been real for a while, not the loneliness because all his friends tell him it's time for him to start dating again. 

But the loss, the loss of the person he was when he wrote that. He stares down at the table because his vision is swimming and he thinks his shoulders are probably starting to shake. 

He won't be the guy who cries in a coffee shop. He can't be that guy. But his legs feel weak and he's not sure he can get up and walk away just yet. Panic attack, the quiet debilitating kind, and he knows he just needs to breathe through it. He knows it's grief working it's way out, it's the shock to his system that all the change is, it's never seeing his goddamn dog again - 

"Um. Mister?" 

*

He looks up at the small, hesitant voice. 

The little girl from behind him is holding a cupcake out. 

He wipes his eyes and says, "Yes?" In a croaky voice. 

Her eyes go very wide. "Uncle Darren!" She says in a stage whisper, as though she doesn't realize Chris can still hear it. 

"Hey, um," the man says, kneeling behind her with a hand on her back. "Sorry to interrupt you, dude, my niece and I were leaving and she saw you looked sad and I picked her up from school today so she had these cupcakes her mom made for the class and she wanted to give you one. That what you wanted to say, Rosie?" 

She shakes her head. The man looks confused. "Uncle Darren, he's on the _book_." 

"What?" Darren looks even more confused. 

Still acting like Chris doesn't exist, she puts the cupcake down in front of Chris and grabs the book out of her backpack, turning it around and thrusting the back of it in Darren's face. 

He looks at the book. 

Then at Chris. 

Then back at the book. 

"Fuck," he says, then looks alarmed. Rosie just giggles. "Oh man, sorry. That's - weird. I'm - are you really-" 

Chris laughs. It comes out sounding strange and slightly rusty, but it's a laugh. "Yeah." 

*

Chris invites them to join him. 

He's not really sure why he offers. The last thing he wanted when he walked in the door was human interaction, but he sits and he eats his cupcake and he listens to Rosie talk about how she's going to draw him pictures of Alex and Conner and who her favorite characters are and for a moment or two he lets himself be distracted away from the miserable reality of his divorce and his life. 

*

When Rosie goes to the bathroom, Darren leans in. "We'll get out of your hair soon, man. But thanks for humoring her. This is gonna make me the coolest uncle ever now. I've been buying her one of your books every time we hang out - I thought it was cool because like, you're gay and all, and kids are wild, you can like - shape their whole lives without even realizing it, and I wanted to make sure she grew up knowing that gay people can do anything and her only exposure wasn't weird gay Uncle Darren-" 

Chris hates himself for his mind instantly going there, but he can't help it. 

_Weird gay Uncle Darren._

Who happens to be pretty cute, and a fan, and sitting across from Chris in a coffee should through a completely random happenstance. 

Rosie comes back before Darren has even finished talking, which is more a commentary on how much he has to say and not on her efficient bathroom usage. 

(Seriously, a lot of words. Impressive breath control. Another plus in Chris's mental tally.) 

"Hey," Chris says as they start to get up, deciding now is the best time in his life to take a risk. "You know, Rosie, I've got a whole room full of Land of Stories stuff at my house. If your Uncle Darren wants to give me his number, maybe you can come over some time and pick something cool out as a present?" 

Darren sees through his opening bid immediately, smirking and lifting an eyebrow as to ask Chris if he's really using the kid. 

Chris just smirks back. 

Rosie is ecstatic, bouncing up and down and wrestling Darren's phone from his grasp to hand it to Chris. 

*

Darren and Rosie do leave first, just because Chris wants to avoid the awkwardness of potentially walking in the same direction even after they've said goodbye. 

He gives it five minutes then gets to his feet. On his way out, he throws his trash away and then drops a twenty into the tip jar at the counter. 

His day just got a little better.

**Author's Note:**

> follow me on [tumblr](http://alittledizzy.tumblr.com)! or [twitter](http://www.twitter.com/alittledizzy)! or don't! your choice! happy holidays!


End file.
